YYH Ghost Files: The Girl Who Set the Rose Aflame
by XxPagerMasterxX
Summary: Best friends become competitors for the love of a "human" girl. Will she choose the fox demon Kurama or the fire demon Hiei? Is their love real or fabricated by some kind of unexplained phenomena? Who can she believe? All will be revealed and more in this season of Yu Yu Hakusho!
1. Chapter 1: Leaving America

Staring wildly at the storm outside the window of her small bedroom Joey, wondered if this was an omen. Was this foreshadowing her new life in Japan? Reaching into the back pocket of her skinny jeans she pulled out a folded sheet of paper that held the location of her soon to be home. She sat down on her bed and began to read the letter to herself once more.

_Dear Joannah Wheems,_

_ We are pleased to inform you, you have been accepted into our new adopt a student program! In our new adopt a student program we select a talented student from another country to study in our school system and prosper from the knowledge we have to offer. Similar to being a foreign exchange student you'll be housed by a family selected by the principal of _Sarayashki_ Junior High school, Mr. Takenaka, where you will be attending till the end of your high school career. If you choose to accept our offer you will be staying in the home of __Minamino, Shuichi__ a current High school student who has proven to be a budding scholar. We await your arrival at the beginning of the new school year August 25, 1992. Enclosed is your plain ticket and information on school supplies you may need as well as a translation book to aid you in your stay. Our faculty at AASP and the staff of _Sarayashki_ Junior High School can't wait to meet you in person._

_ Sincerely Head of AASP,_

_Yui Misazuki  
_

Running a pale hand through her short choppy blonde hair Joey let out a heavy sigh as she gazed around her once poster covered walls to find nothing but the off white color it was when she first moved into her small cozy home with her mother and father. They didn't want her to leave but the opportunity was far to great to pass up. She wasn't a scholar like this Shuichi Minamino but what got her accepted was her art and other extra curricular activities at her High School in the familiar city of Columbus, Ohio. This was her fresh start as a senior in Sarayashki Junior High School, Japan. Tomorrow morning was the flight to her new future.

* * *

Kurama stared at the letter he received a month ago from the strange business who went by the name of AASP finding it odd he never heard of such a business. He almost questioned if it was fraud. His mother had already approved of the new edition to their family and had at once began to prepare for her stay. But still... how odd? Although he looked forward to meeting the fifteen-year-old Joannah Wheems who was a grade level below him he wondered exactly why she had been chosen. It was never enclosed in the letter of her achievements but only that she was the selected winner due to her gifted talents. What kind of talents?

"Big brother!"

Kurama's brilliant green eyes glanced swiftly from the letter to his little step-brother who came running into his bedroom with a large piece of paper he hugged tightly to his chest.

"Yes Kokoda?" he smiled at the little boy who stared up at him with his big brown eyes, his lips puckered out in a pout.

"Do you think Joannah-chan will like this drawing? My best friend Miaka-chan says it look likes a bowl of noodles and its supposed to be a flower!" Kokoda whined flipping the page over to reveal his crayon drawing.

Kurama chuckled, "I think she'll love it."

"Really? Are you just saying that?"

"No but we'll find out in two days for sure."

"That's going to be forever!" Kokoda ran out of the room his picture raised in the air calling for his father to gain his approval.

He couldn't help but chuckle and then his mother's sweet voice rang through the air like a chorus of beautiful bells.

"Shuichi dear, can you please come here for a minute?"

Jogging down stairs to meet his mother's call he found her in the kitchen looking through the cupboards. She wore a white apron tied around her waist and a puzzled look remained glued to her face even when she met her sons gaze.

"What can I get for you mother?"

"Oh Shuichi, can you please suggest something good for me to make for our new family member's arrival?"

He chuckled, "You do realize we have two wholes days till her arrival?"

"Yes, I know but, I just want everything to be perfect," she sighed.

"No matter what mother if you make it, it will be perfect."

A new look of confidence flashed across his mother's face as she continued her search the cabinets. The tie to his human mother was obvious to anyone, and his love was undeniable. This young girl has the house in an excited frenzy preparing for her arrival. Now, not even he could deny his excitement to meet the strange American girl.


	2. Chapter 2: The Stranger On the Airplane

_ Seat 12... seat 14... ah! Here we go! Seat 16! _She smiled with relief when she found her assigned seat for the flight. Joey stuffed her carry on bag in the compartment overhead but kept a small one in her arms that had little things to keeps her busy, along with a couple snacks her mom had packed her. An older gentlman, maybe in his late twenties, sat in the seat by the window with his nose in a news paper. He didn't look up so he was obviously unaware of the teenage girl taking a seat next to him. She had a problem with over analyzing people a lot but for some reason this guy gave her a bad vibe.

It wasn't that he was unattractive or even threatening in appearance just had a bizarre look about him. She could tell by his suit and slicked back black hair that he was wealthy but it made her wonder why he wasn't riding first class. What unnerved her about him was the scar over his right eye reminding her of the villain from Lion King. She giggled to herself at the silly comparison she had made and sat down in her seat buckling the safety belt. Butterflies fluttered around nervously in her stomach anticipating the moment of take off. She let out a little sigh and placed her bag by her feet but then picked it up again afraid it would get lost or stolen. Clutching the bag in one arm she used her free hand to tug at her lip out of habit. A hand reached up and grabbed hers and she looked to meet the scarred man's cool stare. The news paper now was in his lap with the corner of the page he was on folded over to make a book mark just in case he lost his place.

"Keep pulling at your lip like that and it might fall off," he smirked.

She smiled politely, "Sorry, I guess sometimes I don't realize when I'm doing it."

"Don't worry about it, have you ever flown before?"

"No, I think that's why I'm so nervous," she revealed her smile fading into a frown.

Realizing her hand was still in his she blushed pulling it away and let it fall into her lap where her fingers then began to tug at the hem of her black t-shirt. _Wrinkles, wrinkles, _she thought to herself trying to ignore the man's strong gaze.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name's Sakyo Valdez," he held out his hand.

She looked up and hesitantly held out her hand as well.

"Joey," she smiled shyly grasping his hand and shaking it quickly before withdrawing it.

"You appear awfully young to riding alone, is your parents in another seat?"

This question gave her another reason to be wary of Sakyo, he seemed far to interested in her. Of course if he was concerned he had a reason to be, she appeared to be young. In fact if it weren't for her mature bosoms she would have been mistaken for a thirteen year old boy with her short height and pixie hair cut.

"Oh um... no, actually I'm on my way to Japan by myself, I am fifteen after all I think I'm old enough to do so."

"Pardon me," he chuckled, "I had no clue, you'll age well as you grow up."

She furrowed her brows together taking the comment personally. So what if she wasn't twenty, that doesn't make her any more less than a woman than she was right now. _When I grow up..._ In her opinion she thought she was very grown up to leave her home and family behind to pursue her education.

Noticing he struck a nerve his face suddenly appeared apologetic, "Joey, please forgive me, I didn't mean to make you angry, you're a very beautiful young girl."

She shrugged off her personal disagreement and a small smile played on her lips. _Maybe he isn't so bad..._ she thought to herself but the weird feeling in the pit of her stomach made her feel otherwise. Their conversation immediately took off revealing he was on his way to Japan too and also revealed his wealth and the reason he wasn't riding in first class.

"I'm going to be doing a lot of gambling next month so I thought it be wise to be a penny pincher in my current situation."

She still wondered why such a wealthy man had come to Ohio of all the places you could go in the U.S. but kept it to herself not wanting to be rude or make a nuisance of the already awkward situation. This was going to be a long flight. Unzipping her bag she pulled out a puzzle book and flipped through it till she found where she left off. _Kitchen appliances... this should be an easy word find! _Her gaze wondered to the airplane window as she thought about her family. _Mom..._ Tears began to well up in her eyes thinking of her mother and her doing these sorts of puzzles together. At first she didn't think she'd miss her overly protective parents. It was then she admitted it to herself that it was the little things about her Mom and Dad that she would miss. Doing puzzles, watching silly lifetime movies with her mom and helping out her Dad work on the old cars he collected, memories that she would cherish for a lifetime. It wasn't like she was never going to see them ever again but still the absence of her family left a stinging ache in her heart.

* * *

It was almost time, her plane would be landing in any minute. Kokoda bounced up and down on his toes anxiously while holding a tight grip of his mother and Kurama's hands. The lobby was packed and Kokoda whined about this for a little while before he started babbling on and on just to hear himself talk while his mother listened intently. Kurama on the other hand was far to distracted with the thought of finally meeting Joannah. He had so many questions for her, what's it like in America? What were your achievements to land you in Japan with us? He honestly knew nothing about her but her name and age. With his free hand he pulled down his white button up shirt in attempt to rid of the tiny wrinkles that formed on the hour ride to the air port. _Maybe I should have worn different pants? _He thought to himself staring at his blue jeans hoping he made the right impression on the girl who would become part of the family.

"It's about time, just keep a close eye out for her," His mother whispered to Kokoda handing him a white sign with Joannah's name written in bold letters.

Kokoda squealed letting go of their hands holding the poster above his head. People began pouring into the lobby like ants swarming left overs at a picnic in the park. Kurama whose heart started pounding had no idea why it started doing this till he realized he had made eye contact with her. She smiled at him flashing her pearly whites, struggling with two large duffle bags, two rolling suit cases, and a smaller bag along with a medium sized suit case in her left hand. She dressed in tight jeans, converse shoes and a tight black shirt accentuating her rather large breasts. Tied around her waist was a red plaid shirt, her style reminded him of a more robust Yusuke but her smile said otherwise. _'So sweet... so endearing... her smile...'_

"Joannah-chan over here!" Kokoda called jumping up and down.

She grinned as she pushed through the crowd towards them.

"Here let me help you with those," Kurama didn't wait for an answer just took the two duffle bags off her shoulders and grabbed one of the rolling suit cases.

"Thanks," she smiled taking in his stunning appearance.

From his long red hair to his brilliant green eyes she almost keeled over in shock but hid it well. He was an absolute god, the guy every girl wanted to wake up next to every morning, the ones you would see on the cover of cheesey romance novels. Quickly regaining her composure she looked down to the little boy and then to the beautiful women standing next to him.

"Joannah it's a pleasure to meet you," the women chirped pulling her into a hug that made her drop the bags in her hands.

She returned it without hesitation and when they parted the little boy clung to her waist, "My name's Kokoda!" he smiled to reveal his full set of teeth.

"You are such a cutie! You can call me Joey though," she giggled.

"Okay Joey-Chan!"

She stood up and looked to Kurama, "And you must be Shuichi."

He smiled, "Yes, I'm so happy you finally arrived, we've been anticipating your arrival."

"It's very nice to meet all of you, thank you for having me Mrs. Mina-"

"Oh please! You can call me Mom," the woman gushed.

Joey grinned, "Okay, I'll be sure to then."

"We better get home fast, we have a surprise waiting for you!" Kurama's mother exclaimed grabbing one of the rolling suit cases and began leading the way.

"I wanna' help!" Kokoda whined holding the sign under one arm and holding out his hand for a bag.

She giggled handing him her smaller bag soon fallowed by a cheer of excitement as he raced after his mother. Kurama and Joey fallowed behind the two the whole time stealing glances at one another. By the time they reached the parking lot to the small car and packed in her bags she felt the jet leg kick in. "I hate planes..." she muttered stiffling out a yawn. Kokoda sat up front in the passenger seat while Kurama and her squeezed in the back where some of her bags were. He sat nearest to the car door while she sat in the middle.

"We have an hour drive," he warned her buckling his seat belt.

"In that case do you mind if I take a quick cat nap," she smiled sleepily at him.

"No of course not, we have plenty of time to talk later."

"Thank you," she yawned leaning her head back.

It only took a few minutes for her to pass out. Finally he could study her face without having to worry about her seeing. She had such a pale complexion and her cheeks were lined with freckles. Then his gaze quickly landed to her closed eye-lids with her thick lashes, the bangs of her short blonde hair were cut to scurry about her forehead and hide her dark eye brows. Why was her appearance so breath-taking? Joey mumbled something as she moved around a little snuggling closer to him. Her head fell on his shoulder and his cheeks turned a deep shade of pink. How was it possible to be so attracted to a human being, excpecially one he hardley knew? He propped his head against the window and he too closed his eyes a dreamy smile resting on his face as he drifted away into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

"Alright, we're here!" Shiori's voice sang but when she looked over her shoulder she noticed the two teenagers asleep.

"Awe how cute!" she cooed.

Kokoda looked behind the seat, "Ewww Gross!" With that he stuck out his tongue and hopped out of the car taking Joey's small bag inside.

"Shuichi dear," she reached back and shook his knee lightly.

His bright green eyes fluttered open, "Are we home mother?"

"Yes, I'm going to head in and finish some last minute things and make sure everyone is here."

She winked and pulled her keys out of the ignition stuffing them in her purse, leaving the two alone. Kurama only had to move his head slightly to gaze down at Joey's face, her head still resting on his shoulder. In a way she looked almost like a child because she was so small but at the same time her physic said otherwise. _**All the more to make her our mate...**_ a voice in his mind whispered. He didn't have to contemplate the stranger's rough talk to know it was Yoko, his demon kitskune self. _Don't interfere._ He scolded the persistent fox demon pushing him away to the back of his mind.

"Joey, we're home, are you awake?" he whispered rubbing her arm sootheingly.

The blonde haired girl let out a groan and lifted her head a little her eye lids opening slowly to reveal her dull blue eyes. Awaking to brilliant green emeralds she almost forgot where she was at. _That's right, I'm with my new family in Japan, _she reminded herself. Her cheeks blushed a bright pink noticing where her head had been laying and quickly sat up.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered.

"No, um," he cleared his throat, "it's okay really."

"We should get inside," she went to grab her bags but was stopped by his gentle hand on her arm.

"We'll come back out and get them don't worry," he smiled at her warmly, "your surprise is waiting for you."

Butterflies fluttered around hopelessly in her stomach, something she feared would happen every time he attempted to be nice to her. He climbed out first and she fallowed suit stopping only for a moment to stare in wonder at the beautiful home. It was different than all the others around it that were either apartments or little houses painted gray or blue. The Minamino's house was a bright yellow with black shutters and white curtains hanging in almost every window. Their yard was also fenced in unlike the others and she couldn't help but notice the small flower garden by the steps leading to the front door. The only thing odd was there was a drive way for the car but no garage.

He lead her up to the door and grasped the door knob giving it a turn. As the door opened she couldn't help but gape at the beautiful hard wood floors and how rays of sun pouring in from the windows gave it an angelic glow. Her eyes then wondered to the ceiling and the chandelier above her head. The tittle crystals hanging off its lights casted specks of rainbow on the floor.

"Here take your shoes off here," his hand motioned to a mat by the front door where a variety of shoes were left footless. He slipped his off and unfortunately for Joey's converse shoes were a pain to "slip" off so she had to go through the process of loosening her shoe laces.

"Why don't I lead you to your room first before I show you the big surprise," he offered.

"Sure," she nodded fallowing him as he went up the massive stair case.

They came to a hallway with four doors on each side.

"This is Kokoda's room," he pointed to the first door on the left, "and as fallows mom and step-father's, an office, then my bedroom."

"Step-father? Where's he at? Is he with my surprise?"

Kurama frowned and shook his head, "No, I'm afraid he's away on business at the time being."

"Oh," she stated rather dumbly and she gave herself a mental smack for lacking the better words to talk to Shuichi.

He pointed to the doors on the right, "The first one is sitting room of sorts, I usually spend my free time there, the second a spare room, the third a bathroom, and last but not least the fourth is yours."

"Can we go inside?" she squealed with excitement.

"Yes of course," he laughed leading her to the end to the hall opening up her bedroom door to reveal the rather large room.

It was twice the size of her bedroom at home and she suddenly was envious of Shuichi, his family seemed rather wealthy while back in America her family was barely middle class. The walls were painted a bright pink and the floors carpet was sort of a dark purple, burgundy color. The bed was comforted with a flowered comforter and her only window was a window seat with white flowing curtains. Kurama felt a little awkward after showing her the flower and pink colored room, maybe they should have went with a different shade of pink and stayed away from the flowers... maybe even a purple that was a little darker.

"I'm sorry if its a little uh...girly..."

"No its wonderful Shuichi, I really like it," she patted him reassuringly.

Sure flowers were never really Joey's thing but she could put up with them. They went through all this trouble to make her feel at home, there was no way she was going to act selfish and bratty about the color of her room or her floral bed spread.

"Really, you can have the other guest room if-"

She let out a little giggle, "Shuichi, REALLY, its fine."

His heart fluttered. This is ridiculous, he scolded himself, he only knew the girl for about an hour or so and already she has having such a huge affect on him. Never has a human girl made him feel this way. The mean look on his face concerned the tiny girl looking up at him curiously.

"Shuchi, are you okay?"

Immediately his frown turned into a smile when her voice said his name, "No I'm fine, fallow me."

He closed her bedroom door and began to lead her down stairs.

"Now this is where the surprise comes in so you have to close your eyes while I lead you into the kitchen."

She gave him a nod and a smile as he went behind her and covered her eyes with one hand and kept the other on her shoulder to guide her. Soon as they stopped walking she guessed they were in the kitchen.

"Can I open my eyes now?" she giggled trying to pry his hand of her eyes.

He couldn't help but grin, "Alright, alright you can open them now."

Kurama removed his hand and she opened her eyes-

"SURPRISE!"

Joey was shocked to find not only Shiori, and Kokoda but four other teenagers with their arms in the air shouting at the top of their lungs. There was a large round table full of food and a giant cake on the counter behind where a blue haired girl stood next to a brunette, both of their eyes held an animated gleam.

"Is this all for me?" Joey questioned in shock her smile broadening.

"All of it and more, I thought you'd like to meet some of my friends who will also be your fellow classmates," he motioned to the group of teens.

Shiori stepped forward, "Yes and I also wanted to do something special for you, a welcome to our family kind of celebration."

"Thank you so much everyone," she bowed politely.

All of this talk of family almost made Joey feel home sick but was flattered so she tried to ignore the ache. She was always so worried about not being accepted or even liked for that matter so in a room full of people she didn't know she was glad that they all appeared so accepting. Normally she didn't have to worry, many people liked her, in fact she never met anyone who didn't truly like her at least a little.

"Time for introductions!" the blue haired girl sang jumping up and down excitedly.

She raced over devouring Joey in her embrace, "My name's Botan! It's so nice to meet you!"

The brown haired girl giggled racing over to join the hug as well, "And I'm Keiko!"

"You have to be the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Botan cooed.

"Agreed!" Keiko said giggling more madly than before.

Stuck in between the two womens' bosoms she giggled at how jealous she would have been to be a guy watching the over dramatic scene. In fact she swore the orange haired boy with a goofy look on his face. Er... maybe that was just his face? Eventually she was released only to be swooped up by someone else.

"Let's adopt her Keiko!" the greasy black haired boy exclaimed, "You are so adorable, how old are you little girl?"

"Um Yusuke-" Kurama tried to speak up yet his friend continued to treat her like a child.

"Oh come on don't be shy? I bet your nine, no ten!"

She glowered up at him, "My name's Joey and I'm not a little girl, I'm fifteen-years-old."

"Yeah come on Yusuke, even I heard Kur- I mean Shuichi tell us that she was our age!" the orange haired guy laughed.

"I was being sarcastic dumb ass, you know making a joke," the boy named Yusuke shot the other boy an annoyed look immediately letting go of Joey, his hand bawled up in a fist.

"HEY I AM NOT A DUMBASS!"

"SURE LOOKS THAT WAY TO ME!"

"TAKE THAT BACK GREASE MONKEY!"

"NO WAY ASS-FACE!"

"Here we go again," Botan giggled comforting Joey whose face started to show concern, "don't worry this happens a lot, and by the way the orange haired lad is Kuwabara Kazuma but he prefers Kuwabara."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause a commotion I just really dislike it when people make fun of my height," Joey blushed.

"Oh it's okay I'm sure Mr. Short Dark and Mysterious in the corner can relate!" Yusuke laughed earning a high five from Kuwabara both forgetting about their previous bickering to laugh at his joke.

"Next time just give him a good ol' whack in the head," Keiko laughed.

After she gave a smile and a nod to Keiko, Joey's attention was turned to a boy who stood in the corner, unaware of his presence the entire time. Looking over his appearance she suddenly wondered how she didn't notice him before. His black hair spiked upwards with short loose strands popping out from behind a white bandana. What she thought odd about the black mass was in the middle were little white strands of hair making the shape that appeared to look like a star. His crimson red orbs glared at the two boy's making jokes about him but he simply muttered a "hn" before returning his gaze out the window beside him. Unlike the others who were dressed so casually he wore a black cloak that reached his mid-calf, the only other thing you could see was his black combat boots and had a white scarf like cloth wrapped around his neck. _Don't judge Joey, his look could be casual._ It was odd how he made no advance towards her to introduce himself where as all the others threw themselves at her. _Maybe I should I go over and introduce myself first, just to be polite._ Joey put on her biggest smile and made her way over to the stranger who stood a few inches taller than herself while all the others watched nervously.

His gaze fell on her as she held out her hand, "Hello my names Joey and-"

The boy narrowed his eyes,"Don't touch me, Baka." he barked and suddenly Joey felt her confidence shrink to the size of a pea.

_What the hell is this guy's problem?_


	3. Chapter 3: A Quick Visit To Spirit World

_"Hello my names Joey and-"_

The boy narrowed his eyes,"Don't touch me, Baka." he barked and suddenly Joey felt her confidence shrink to the size of a pea.

_What the hell is this guy's problem?_

Joey was seeing red. She didn't have a clue what a "Baka" was but it obviously wasn't good since the boy said it so hatefully. Never in her life had she had someone not like her who she never even spoken to before. What right did this guy have to be such a jerk when she didn't do anything but introduce herself to him? She was just being polite. Her hands went straight to her hips, all the niceness that was once present disappeared instantly. She glared at him and suddenly wanted to do nothing more than scratch the eyes out of his skull.

"Joey-Chan..."

Her heavy glared lifted from the stranger and fell on Kokoda who pulled on the hem of her shirt.

"I drew this for you," he grinned holding up a colorful piece of paper with scribbles that resembled a bowl of ramen noodles but she could see a stem and leaves.

"Is this a flower?" she smiled her scowl scurrying away from her face.

He nodded and she retrieved the paper giving him a huge smile, "Why this, this is a work of art!" she announced holding the paper in the air for everyone to see turning away from the boy in the corner.

The little boy blushed and shuffled his feet but still grinned up at her.

"You don't say?" Kurama mumbled staring at her with curiosity.

"Believe me I know art, that's the reason this program chose me... I think... because it obviously wasn't for my grades," she giggled, "I'll hang this in my room forever Kokoda!"

She squeezed the little frame so tight he felt like his eyes were about to bug out of his head but he couldn't help but laugh as so did everyone else... everyone that is but one. Noticing this her attention was back on the boy who muttered yet another "Hn" returning her hateful glare.

"Hiei this is no way to make friends," Yusuke laughed, "at least Kokoda has the right idea."

"Hiei is it? Well I'm sure you don't have an artistic bone in your body anyways," Joey scoffed.

"What makes you say that baka?" the boy smirked.

"Because every bone in your little body is made of pure evil," she accused pointing a skinny index finger at him.

Everyone stared in awe at the two miniature people who literally had lightening bolts racing from glare to glare. They were locked in a stare down that would destroy any and all who interfered.

"Little body? You have no room to talk," he grumbled, "you could be mistaken for a child!"

"SHUT UP HALF PINT!" she screeched causing everyone to instantly stare in shock at the human girl yelling at one of the most powerful demons in the three worlds.

"Bitch," he rebuttled.

"ASS!"

"Slut."

"SLUT? YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW ME!"

"Baka," he smirked.

She growled and immediately Yusuke and Kuwabara grabbed her frail arms in case of attack.

"Dinner time!" Shiori chirped sending a nervous glance between the two teenagers who were about to make her kitchen their war zone.

* * *

"I apologize again for Hiei's behavior, I should have made him leave..." Kurama sighed apologizing again for the millionth time since everyone had left.

"Don't worry about it Shuichi like I said I should have showed a little more um... self-control." Joey laughed looking down from her bed to the red headed beauty seated on her new bedroom floor.

"Don't take him personally or anything he's like that with everyone really and-"

"Shuichi it's okay, more than anything I was a little shocked by his personality," she chuckled, "I never had someone not like me so much before so I just overreacted."

Through out dinner she attempted to be polite after her slip-up with the black haired "ass-face" as she had dubbed him after dinner for calling her a moron. She too apologized to everyone but they all laughed it off not even thinking twice about the bickering between the new house guest and Kurama's best friend, even Mom laughed.

"He will be my friend though," she confirmed a grin forming.

"Oh?" he stared at her shocked by her determined look.

"Yep, I'll strap him down and make him have a sensible conversation with me WITHOUT insults before I leave Japan," she giggled.

Kurama couldn't help but chuckle imagining the spastic scene in his head but also trying to imagine Hiei ever getting along with another human that wasn't Yusuke or Kuwabara who he only "kind of" got along with twenty five percent of the.

"Well, I better let you get to bed," he smiled.

"Why's that?" she raised a brow.

"Big day tomorrow."

"Oh yeah..." she groaned flinging herself back onto her bed.

Her first day of school, did she have to be reminded?

"Well good night Joey," he smiled getting up from her floor and began to head out of her room.

"Good night Shuichi!" she called after him watching his figure disappear from sight and she got up to close the door.

What a hunk! She giggled to herself but thoughts of the red haired boy made her mind slowly wonder back to school. She was glad she wouldn't have to encounter Hiei unless he came over to the house or the homes of one her new friends seeing how he was a drop out. On the other hand out of everyone she met tonight the only person who wasn't in her school was Shuichi being a grade of her and also in High School. She didn't quite understand the whole grade level thing yet but she was bound to be in school with him in a year... as long as she didn't fail. Failure was not an option, she told herself wiggling out of her clothes; she preferred the nude. Snuggling underneath the covers she reached over to the night stand and set her alarm to give her some time to get ready in the morning. The moment she turned off her lamp sleep consumed her unaware of her dream boat Kurama had disappeared.

* * *

"Come on toddler, spit it out its midnight and a school night," Yusuke whined.

The "toddler" sitting behind his mighty desk stared at the boy and his friends between slits mumbling, "if only that really did matter to you."

"Let's be serious about this Koenma, we do have an early start tomorrow," Kurama sighed warily.

"Alright then I'll be swift and straight to the point, Joey is in danger."

The four boys stared in shock, even Hiei, at the baby and his blue ogre companion who handed a small remote device to him. With the push of a button Joey's picture was on the screen with all of her personal information. They all turned studying this information as their boss spoke.

"AASP was created by myself and Botan in order to bring her here knowing you could keep her safe," a frown formed behind his pacifier, "of course with the help of my father."

"What is she in danger of?" Kurama's heart was about to explode at the thought of her being alone with only the protection of his mother and kid brother.

"It seems a demon group has targeted her, we don't know of their intentions or who they are but we do know she does have a high level of spirit awareness so that may or may not play as a factor in this; for right now it would be safe for us to keep a close eye on her. Because we don't know who these demons are and how powerful they are we must be cautious and try to hide this from her at all times, she cannot find out about any of your real aliases yet."

"But I mean won't she find out eventually?" Kuwabara asked dumb-founded by the situation.

"Moron, if she finds out do you think she would actually keep it a secret?" Hiei scoffed.

"Well-uh... I mean its not like we don't have a reason not to trust her yet."

"Stupid human," he glowered.

"YOU WANNA' PIECE OF ME SHORTY?"

"You are about as immature as the slut Kurama is keeping."

"I'd appreciate if you didn't call her such distatseful names," Kurama frowned.

"Hn."

"Another thing, I must tell you about our new guest is her type of spirit awareness. It seems after some time and study her aura can attract demons rather easily. We do not know why or how but be warned that this will also put her in grave danger. That's all you need to know for now," Koenma nodded pointing the remote at them.

"Wait binky breath! What if she does find out?" Yusuke raised a brow.

"We'll deal with it when it happens."

With the press of a button the four boys disappeared from the Prince of Spirit World's office.

"Koenma sir, what will happen if the human girl finds out about everything?" the ogre questioned curiously.

"I'd hate to do this but I would most likely have to make her into a spirit detective as well."

"What's so wrong with that?"

"DON'T YOU THINK A HUMAN GIRL WOULD WANT TO LIVE A HAPPY NORMAL LIFE WITHOUT BEING THREATENED BY EVIL CREATURES ALMOST EVERY DAY?" the ruler screeched at the top of his lungs.

"Koenma sir no need to get so cranky!" the ogre piped up defensively hiding on the other side of his desk.

The toddler cleared his throat his calm composition returning to his once shouting exterior, "Sorry about that ogre it's just that I already dragged Yusuke and Kuwabara into this, two human lives who had a chance to be normal... atleast... Kuwabara did... I'm afraid Yusuke didn't have much of a choice in the matter; I hate to bring another poor soul into this dangerous life style."

* * *

Kurama crept up to Joey's door and slowly turned the knob. It gave a defying squeak but it wasn't loud enough to wake her. He let out a soft sigh of relief as he looked around the room to find nothing out of the ordinary happened while he was gone. The unknown group of the demons must not know that she is in Japan yet but it wouldn't be long. His glowing green orbs fell on her tiny body burrowed in her covers.

"But I haven't finished dessssert yet..." she gurgled turning over.

Hearing her talk his body went stiff but sensed she was still asleep, simply talking while she rested. When she had turned over her covers had moved to reveal her bare back that faced him and his face instantly turned a tomato red. She was naked? No pajamas of any sort! Quickly but quietly he shut the door and raced across the hall to his room sitting down on his bed. Resting his burning face in his hands he shook his head trying to forget about the image that wanted to linger. Yoko kept reminding him of the blonde haired girl's clothe-less back and he cursed the fox demon who he could hear chuckle darkly in his mind. _Don't you even think about it Yoko..._

_**Oh I'm not... you are.**_

He could see the image of the silver haired demon grinning in his mind when he knew he was right. Although the demon enjoyed the thought it was he the "human" Kurama who kept thinking about the naked Joey and the longing to be pressed up against that bare back. Crawling underneath the covers of his bed he fell asleep with the image still in mind no matter how hard he tried to rid himself of it.


	4. Chapter 5: The First Day Of School

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! WHAM! Joey's alarm clock fell to the floor startling her. She sat up her covers held up to her chest in fear of intruders barging into her room. Looking around she then noticed the alarm clock lying on her floor, the back popped open and batteries scattered around it. She let out a little sigh of relief and threw off her covers to find a small pile of clothes and a pair of brown shoes along with a note. She picked up the little scrap of paper and had to squint to read the small writing, written in the best American Shiori could muster.

_Joey,_

_Hope you have a wonderful day at school!_

_Love you,_

_Mom_

It was her school uniform! Although just last night she felt nervous about her first day a wave of fresh emotions consumed her, anticipation. Jumping up she immediately began to get ready by putting on a pair of under wear and her favorite lacy black and pink bra. She slipped on the blue skirt and top then pulled on a pair of white knee socks mom had left inside the shoes. _I'm almost ready,_ she grinned. Racing out of her room she went to the bathroom next door taking the time to adorn her hair with a blue ribbon hair clip. '_I wonder if Shuichi is ready yet.'_ Making her way across the hall she tapped lightly on the red head's door. There was no movement to open the door but she did hear someone walking around. She knocked on the door again.

"Kokoda I'll be out in a minute, I told you that five minutes ago," the voice spoke calmly but held a hint of annoyance.

"Um, actually it's me Joey," she giggled.

Without a seconds hesitation the door was opened to reveal her secret crush dressed in his pink uniform but noticed his cheeks were the same shade of pink as his attire.

"What's wrong Shuichi?" she smiled cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, um, nothing it's just that-" he met eye contact with the foreign exchange student then looked back down, "it's nothing."

What he really couldn't tell her was he was still imagining her bare back and wishing he could have seen more... stop it Kurama! He yelled at himself mentally. She's supposed to be your friend, nothing more...

"Uh... okay then... are you ready for school then?" she tried to shrug off the awkward feeling that was starting to creep on her.

He only knew Joey since yesterday afternoon and had to keep reminding himself that. In fact... they really didn't know each other at all. Did her aura have something to do with that? Could it be attracting his inner fox demon?

He forced a smile, "Yes, we better get going if we're to eat break fast and get there on time."

She gave a nod and went back to her to grab her shoes and school bag then shut her bedroom door leading the red head down stairs to the kitchen. Shiori was pouring a some sort of soup into little bowls set out on the table and also poured a steaming kettle of tea into little cups. Kurama took his seat at the round table cupping the bowl with two hands to sip from it. Joey sat next to him placing her shoes on the floor along with her bag beside her and stared down at the yellowish brown substance watching little strips of celery float on top.

"What exactly is this?" she raised a brow smelling the soup.

"It's called Miso," Kokoda laughed sitting across from the two, "we usually have this or rice."

"Oh," she continued to stare at the porcelain bowl.

Kurama gave a gentle pat on her shoulder, "Try it, you may like it."

"And if not I can find something else you may like," her Japanese mother smiled in reassurance.

Hesitantly she picked up the steaming bowl and took a sip-

"This is delicious!" she grinned excitedly almost child-like and within seconds downed the whole bowl of soup.

She sipped slowly on her tea while Kurama and Kokoda stared at their new sister in shock. Such a tiny body, with a large appetite.

"Well, I'm glad you like it," the mother giggled, "would like some more?"

She shook her head, "No thank you, I don't want to walk on a full stomach."

"You mean you're not full?" Kokoda coughed nearly choking in the middle of a sip.

"No, not at all," she stated simply.

"You didn't eat that much last night during dinner," the little boy gaped.

"To be honest I felt quite queezy after that long flight so I wasn't entirely hungry."

_Note to self, purchase extra of everything_, Shiori thought giggling to herself.

"Speaking of which we better get going," Kurama stood up after taking the last gulp of his break fast and taking a large swig of his tea.

"Alright!" she exclaimed grabbing her belongings and skipping to the front door Kurama in tow chuckling under his breath.

She slipped on her shoes and he slipped on his.

"Have a good day at school you two!" his mother called after them as they exited the house.

_How odd... she acts so childish sometimes but then turns around and talks so elegantly, I'm afraid I'll never quite understand this girl._

"Who's in the forest strolling? The birds and the bees sing Momiji! The frogs in the pond are calling, Momiji, yes, it's true!" Joey sang excitedly swinging her arms as she walked.

Kurama finally caught up with the small girl and now walked by her side.

"What song is that from?" he wondered thinking it sounded familiar.

"From one of my favorite animes ever," she grinned as she finished singing, "The trees raise their leaves together. Who needs the sun when we've got you? Who's in the forest strolling? The birds and the bees sing Momiji. The frogs in the pond are calling, Momiji, yes, it's true!"

"You like anime?"

"Oh yes, all my friends and I back in America do, in fact we had a club at school! I was vice president."

"Oh? Were you in any other clubs?" he questioned curiously.

"I was president of the A.L.A.U.!" she announced proudly, "it stand for Aliens Live Among Us!"

He chuckled, "Aliens?"

"I'll show you my collection when we get home later! Which reminds me, do you think you can take me to the store later? I wish to buy some things."

"Sure I can, anything in particular you need?"

"Pajamas!" (She came to the logic she may need them, the colder months were approaching quickly)

His cheeks turned a bright fire red at the statement. Does she know he saw her? _If she did I'm sure with her personality she would have approached me about it... or beat potentially beat me with a frying pan under Keiko and Botan's commands._ He sighed in relief when he caught sight of the school. Yusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara were standing on the corner waving the two over. Keiko reached Joey first engulfing her in a bone crushing hug.

"You look so cute in your uniform!" she cooed stepping back to appraise her again.

"Thank you Keiko," she blushed.

_There she goes acting shy now..._ Her emotions were really starting to puzzle Kurama.

"Are you sure you don't belong in the primary school little girl?" Yusuke laughed at his own joke which was immediately fallowed with a smack to the head from Joey whose brute force startled not only Yusuke but herself as well.

"Will you ever learn Yusuke," Keiko sighed.

Kuwabara began laughing hysterically, "looks like we've got another girl who can beat you up!"

WHAM!

"OUCH! THAT HURT UREMESHI!"

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET ASS WIPE!"

Kuwabara held his head in pain whilst Joey and the others laughed at the bickering teenagers. After the laughter died down Kurama made this his point to separate from the group.

"Well I best be on my way, I'll pick you up after school Joey and I'll take you shopping."

"Alright! See you then Shuichi!" she waved as he walked off and turned back to her new friends.

"Shouldn't we be going too?"

"Nah, I don't feel like it today," Yusuke huffed.

"Me neither, I'm in the mood for a fight," Kuwabara agreed.

"I'm sure we can find some punks lookin' for a rumble."

"Oh no you don't Yusuke! You're not missing anymore school than you have to!" Keiko grabbed his ear dragging him towards the direction of the school.

"HEY! THAT THINGS ATTACHED YOU KNOW!"

"It is Friday Kuwabara, you sure you want to skip?" Joey raised a brow looking up at the goofy orange haired boy.

"Since you're so concerned, I'll go," he grinned a light pink tint appearing on his pale defined cheeks.

"Don't get any funny ideas," she smirked and began walking to the school followed close behind by a drooling Kuwabara.

* * *

Joey lost her three friends when she went to her locker to put away her school bag but pulled out the schedule Keiko had handed to her upon entering the school. She told her that they were all in the same class so just to come to room 311. All eyes were on as she walked to class and she wondered if this was a good thing or if it was bad. Walking into the class room Keiko was glaring and lecturing Yusuke.

"Yusuke, is it your goal to get a detention every day of school? You know you can't bring videos here."

"Well, at least I'm here right," he grumbled.

"Are you trying to hide something from me?"

"Uh.. N-no why?"

"There's a cassette in your arm-pit," she stated bluntly, "What is it Yusuke?"

A moment of silence passed between the two as he stared at her nervously and she showed concern in her big brown eyes.

He sighed, "Okay fine, to tell you the truth I got this thing from spirit world."

She stared puzzled, "huh?"

"I haven't seen the video yet but odd are it's my next big case, so how's that for spilling my guts?" she continued to stare, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"What's a spirit world?"

"You've got amnesia or something I thought Botan explained everything to you about my job as being spirit detective?"

"Right she told me all about your internship with the great detective," she was hit with an apiphony, "oh of course, Spirit World must be the name of the agency for that guy you work for!"

"Yusuke, you're a detective?" Joey gushed.

"Oh crap," Kuwabara gasped just as Yusuke too went rigid.

"Er uh... yeah... I mean uh..." he was lost for words.

Koenma's words echoed in his head from the night before telling him to keep it a secret. _Good thing Botan didn't tell Keiko EVERYTHING..._

"That's totally awesome your like detective Conan from Case Closed! I love that anime! Only your not stuck in a little kid body solving crimes and stuff and..." she rambled on while Yusuke sighed in relief. That's one crisis avoided for the time being.

* * *

Lunch time at last rolled around. Joey looked around at the class who all had brought their own food and sat in groups at their desks. On the other hand she realized she had forgot to pack one or ask Mom to pack one for her. Her stomach growled loudly and she quickly wrapped her arms securely around her waist in defense. _Now I really wish I would have taken up that offer on seconds this morning..._

"Hello there!"

She looked up to the meet the eyes of stunningly handsome brown haired boy, almost as stunning as her Shuichi.

"Hello-er uh... konnichiwa?"

He laughed, "So your Joannah Wheems, the talk of the school."

She smiled, "I prefer Joey, you are?"

"My name's Fumio, Kenji but you may call me Kenji," he grinned.

A sudden feeling hit her, almost as if she should had been frightened by something. A similar feeling she had received on the plane from that Sakyo character. He was an ordinary guy from what she could tell, other than being incredibly good looking which wasn't to unusual. She had been coming across plenty of handsome men in the past two days.

"You mind if I sit with you? We can share my lunch if you want," he offered flashing another dazzling smile.

As she stared into his amber speckled eyes. She honestly wanted to say yes to the handsome boy but her gut kept telling her no.

"Well," her gut never steered her wrong, "I would love if you did but I have to go find my friend Yusuke, I saw him leave when lunch started and I have a question to ask him so uh-"

He glared at her, his warm welcoming smile disappearing all together, "That Yusuke guy is bad news, he's always getting himself and others around him into trouble."

This struck a nerve, "I think I have the ability to choose who my friends are thank you."

Joey glared at Kenji and rose to her feet stomping out of the classroom, all eyes were on her till she was out of sight. Slowly she started to calm down the more she walked but didn't know exactly what to do with herself. She found herself on the roof and she wasn't alone. Yusuke sat propped up against a wall along with Kuwabara who seemed deep in conversation. _Wow... their not yelling at each other _she chuckled approaching them.

"Hey guys!" she greeted.

They both almost jumped but regained their composure.

"Hey Joey," Kuwabara grinned, "what are you doing up here? Miss me already?"

She chuckled and couldn't help but smile, "Yes and no, I was trying to escape an awkward conversation with someone in our class named Kenji."

"Really? He's new but he doesn't seem all bad," Yusuke shrugged.

"Apparently he thinks your bad news and told me not to hang out with you, how long has been going here?"

"A week, odd how he can begin accusing in the little time he's been here," him and Kuwabara shared a knowing look but Joey didn't catch it.

She was far to distracted with her growling stomach and her current thoughts. At that moment those thoughts were about Hiei. _I wonder what a guy like him could possibly be doing right now... _She then let out a huff, why should she care about the big jerk? _It must be rather lonely though sitting at home while all your friends are in school._ Well... Botan too was a drop out but she seemed far to busy with this job she had that she was talking a lot about last night. She delivered something... once again Hiei's new found hatred for her kept her distracted from that conversation too. Shaking Hiei's handsome face away from her mind she couldn't wait till school was out and she could be with "Shuichi".


	5. Chapter 6: The Kidnapping

Days passed and there seemed to be no sign of Yusuke, Botan, Kuwabara, or even Hiei for that matter, even though she hadn't seen him that much anyways since the party. _Shuichi's been making a lot of disappearance's too ever since the day we went to the cafe..._ Joey thought to herself staring up at the ceiling of her room. It wouldn't be long till he was home. She looked over at her repaired alarm clock, 7:45 pm. Letting out a sigh she began to think back to last week when she first met her friends. They were all so friendly and nice, she hoped they liked her as much as she was starting to like them. She grasped the comforter with her small pale hand holding on so tight her knuckles turned white. Biting down on her bottom lip she suddenly began to worry, Maybe I should have tried to stay relaxed and funny rather than angry, but I couldn't help it! Hiei just mad me so mad... maybe I should learn to be more tolerable. Shaking her head she pushed the worried thoughts to the back of her mind and flopped over onto her stomach tracing circles into her pillow. They didn't seem to mind that her and Hiei didn't get along.

"Ugh," she groaned, "I'm so bored."

What was there to do on a Monday night?

"Of course! I'll go shopping!" she squealed rolling off her bed and skipping merrily over to her closet.

With Kurama gone she had plenty of spare time to be alone and unpack everything. Searching through her color coded closet she grabbed a pair of faded blue skinny jeans and a simple red t-shirt. Quickly she pulled off her uniform and slipped into her jeans smoothly and managed to put on her shirt with ease. Skipping from her room and the down stairs she found her host Mom where she would normally find her, in the kitchen. She sat at the table reading a magazine whilst Kokoda played with a tiny toy truck his face resting in the palm of his other hand.

"I think I'm going to go to this one store I visited with Shuichi the other day, is that okay?" she asked politely in fear of the answer being no.

Her mother looked up and beamed a smile, "Of course you can Joey, please don't be long though."

"I won't!" she grinned and went to leave but noticed her new little brother's face went from a bored expression to a "I want to kill myself" look, "Can I take Kokoda with me?"

Shiori seemed almost surprised by the question, "Well, um, yes, I guess you can if you want."

Kokoda jumped up leaving his truck and ran over holding onto his Joey's arm, "I can really go with you Joey-chan?"

"Yes silly!" she giggled giving Shiori a wave as the two ran to the front door, "We'll be safe Mom!"

She struggled but managed to pull on a pair of her converse shoes once more. After lacing them up and tying them into a bow her and Kokoda headed out the door and quickly made their way down the street.

"So what store are we going to Joey-chan?"

"Well I can't remember the name but they had these really awesome books and saw they had some manga in English," she laughed, "so I want to get a hold of them while I can."

"I was afraid you were going to go clothes shopping but at this point I don't care, it's so boring at home sometimes."

"Don't you and Shuichi ever do anything together?" they seemed pretty close she thought.

"Um, sometimes, other times he's either busy studying or not even home for days at a times," he explained frowning slightly.

"You worry about him, huh?"

"Of course, he's my big brother, Mom does too but she trusts that he's doing the right thing whatever it is he's doing," he grinned, "I think he's a super hero fighting bad guys!"

Joey giggled, "I could see that."

She imagined Shuichi in a super man suit with the big "S" embroider on his chest and continued to giggle as the little boy who rambled on about the made up adventures he created for his brother in his head. It wasn't long before they made it to the little shop. Immediately the cashier greeted them upon their entrance but then turned her attention to someone who had came up with an arm full of books.

"I'm going to look over here at some of these comics!" the little boy gushed excitedly running over to a little stand with colorful covers.

"Okay but don't go anywhere else!" she smiled and then went to the next aisle over to find the English mangas she had seen before.

Her fingers slowly traced the spines of each book reading their titles. She was surprised to find more than she remembered. _Should I read another romance or maybe just a comedy? _She wondered. Deep in concentration she didn't notice anyone walk up behind her but her careful search was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. She turned to yell at whoever disturbed her only to find herself face to face with Kenji.

"Hey Joey," he smiled.

"Oh, uh, Kenji, hi," she blushed meeting his handsome gaze.

"Surprised to find you here alone, where's Shuichi?"

"Um, uh, he's uh," _lie to him, _her conscience commanded, "he's um... just next door ordering us some tea."

Why did she feel the need to lie to Kenji? He's such a nice guy, but the lie had been made and it was time to keep it going. There was something off about him today, something in his eyes that made her slightly afraid to continue this conversation.

"Mmm that's odd I was just over there and didn't see him," he studied her with a hard stare.

She smiled nervously, "Seemed kind of busy so maybe you just didn't notice him."

"Now Miss Wheems wouldn't it be hard to miss someone as unusual as Shuichi?"

"I don't think so... um... uh... sorry um, I have to go," she spoke quickly inching away from him.

_Get Kakoda, and run like hell... _her conscious told her.

"Allow me to escort you," Kenji grinned grabbing her arms roughly with one hand holding them behind her back with ease. She screamed but his other hand muffled it. It was loud enough to get the few customers and the cashier in the book store to turn their attention towards them even Kokoda who was entranced by super heroes now stared at the scene in shock.

"Let Joey-chan go!" he shouted pointing an accusing finger at the handsome boy whose face shadowed with darkness.

"Anyone make a move and I won't hesitate to kill her!" Kenji shouted glaring at everyone.

Everyone stayed frozen whilst he made his escape with Joey who began to cry being dragged away by the lunatic. _Let me go, please let me go..._

The cashier grabbed the phone on the wall calling for the police, screaming wildly about the kidnapping.

_I have to save her but I can't! _Kokoda frowned, _But if anyone can Shuichi can!_ With that he ran out of the store filled with mass hysteria.

* * *

"It's so greeeaaaat to be back!" Yusuke grinned throwing himself onto Kurama's couch.

Kuwabara sighed taking a seat next him, "Yeah no kidding, I've seen enough bad guys for one day."

Hiei leaned up against the wall farthest away from the two boys covered in bandages. Kurama noticed his mother heading up stairs as he closed the front door being the last one in.

"Mother, where's Joey?"

She stopped and turned to look at her son, "Her and Kokoda went to a shop up the street she said you two had visited, they left a few minutes ago."

He smiled, "Okay."

His mother disappeared up the stairs and he went into the living room where the three boys continued a heated discussion about their previous case.

"It seems Joey left minutes ago, maybe we should go find her," Kurama informed the boys who all looked up, their conversations drifting into silence.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Hiei growled.

"Her and my brother left to go to a shop up the street, I believe it may be that one book store on the corner, she said before-"

"We were supposed to keep an eye on her! How in the hell are we supposed to do that if she left without us knowing where she went?" Yusuke yelled his anger getting the best of him.

"Yeah, I mean, how come you didn't tell her to stay home?" Kuwabara raised a brow his eyes in shock.

Kurama frowned, "I can't control her without her finding out that somethings wrong, she's very clever and would easily catch on."

Kuwabara sighed giving a slight shrug, "True, but I don't see why she can't know, I mean she already knows about the whole detective part."

"Moron," Hiei glared, "we had direct orders not to tell her!"

"She just sorta walked in besides she just thinks he's like a murder mystery kind of detective not one that hunts down demon bad guys like you!" Kuwabara barked pointing a finger at the short fire demon.

Suddenly they went silent hearing the door being thrown open and slammed harshly. Yusuke exchanged a knowing look with Kurama whose heart began to pound wildly. Only one person came in...

"Shuicihi!" Kakoda screamed up the stairs then ran into the living room and was relived to find him along with his friends.

Kurama stared at his little brother in shock, "Is everything okay?"

He shook his head, "It's Joey-chan... she's... been... kidnapped!" he gasped out of breath from running.

Hiei didn't hesitate and ran for the door, gone before another word could be uttered. Kuwabara jumped up from the couch staring in horror at the little boy whose eyes began to grow cloudy with tears.

"I'll call Koenma, he probably knows something about the kidnapper," the greasy haired gangster informed whipping out a beauty compact.

"Now's not the time to powder your nose Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled frantically.

"Shut up!" he retaliated, "It's a communicator nimrod!"

"How am I supposed to know that?"

Kurama knelt down and grabbed Kakoda's tiny shoulders pulling him into a tight hug.

"Keep an eye out for Joey in case she comes back, and let Mom know everything is going to be okay, alright?"

He pulled away and the little boy nodded rubbing his tears away with the sleeve if his striped sweater dashing up the stairs.

"Yusuke, I was just about to call you-" Koenma began to speak but was cut off immediately.

"Diaper boy! Joey has been kidnapped, we have to know whatever you haven't told us!" he screamed at the toddler who narrowed his eyes.

He cleared his throat, "That's why I called, you should probably turn on the television."

Kuwabara didn't question the baby's demand and turned on the T.V to find a reporter collecting his papers as a picture of Joey appeared a the corner of the screen along with her kidnapper, Kenji.

"Breaking news," the reporter straightened his tie as he skimmed the papers before him, "a new transfer student, Joannah Wheems, has been kidnapped by fellow classmate, Fumio Kenji, their where abouts are unknown but if seen please contact the authorities immediately, a death threat has been made for those who try to interfere with the deranged student..."

"Its going to be harder to catch the bad guy this time Yusuke with the public knowing he attends your school," Koenma warned shaking his pudgy index finger in the camera screen.

"As if its ever been easy before," he huffed, "do you have a location?"

"Yes, luckily I was keeping a close eye on her as well, she has been taken to an abandon ware house across the city, by the Fukimodo pier and-"

"Thanks drool breath but we have to go!"

"Wait, Yusuke, he's obviously the demon we're looking for but he may not be as big as a threat as you think, Joey-"

Before Koenma could finish his sentence Yusuke closed the compact shoving it into his jean pockets.

"Well, it's time to kick some demon ass yet again," the greasy hair boy grinned at his best friends.


	6. Chapter 7: The Real Adventure Begins

_D_rip... Drip... Drip... The only thing Joey heard since her kidnapper had left her in the dark cold dungeon of a place was the sound of water hitting the cold stone floor. Tears poured down her pale cheeks whilst she remained bound by ropes. He had knocked her unconscious on the way just so she wouldn't know where she was being taken to, so even if she could get out... there was no way she knew how to get home. I don't really need to go home... just far away from here... She silently devised an escape plan but everything she thought of seemed to be blocked by some obstacle. There were no windows, the only light available came from upstairs shining in through the cracks of the moldy door barely on its hinges. Her heart began to pound wildly in her chest... what was it that Kenji wanted from her?

The sound of foot steps walking down concrete stairs made her mind race, _Kenji? _They grew louder with each step the figure grew nearer, his shadow creeping out from under the door... wait... two shadows! The door burst open and there stood not Kenji but two other men, no not men... she blinked dumb founded... monsters?

"So this is the girl? Hmmm I hoped her to be much larger in case she didn't work, at least then we would have an appetizing snack," one of the creatures grumbled crossing his blue scaly arms.

The other shrugged its massive furry shoulders, "Let's bring her up."

Her eyes went wide with fear, "Where are you taking me?" she screeched.

The two strange beings stalked forward but only the one who spoke first grabbed her throwing her body over his shoulders. She kicked and struggled, screaming loud profane words but all they did was laugh saying, "shut up pathetic human" and "you'll regret it if you try to escape". Escape? How could she with two giants preventing her from doing so? Reaching the top of the stairs the surrounding walls were much different, peeling wallpaper rather than stone and almost every inch of floor space was littered with boxes. _This is some sort of ware house... _she concluded, _if only I knew the area..._

"Ah, so she was awake after all," she looked over to the owner of the voice to find Kenji leaning up against one of the walls. His brown hair hung in his face whilst his beautiful eyes gazed at her with desire.

A space was cleared out for an operating table... _AN OPERATING TABLE?_

"What the hell Kenji?" she yelled at the good looking boy who merely smirked.

The monster threw her down on the table and she decided to take her opportunity. Just as the other creature was about to fasten her to it she threw herself off of it rolling onto her stomach as she tried to crawl away.

"Do you really wanna die?" Kenji cackled.

"I won't go down without trying to escape from you!" she yelled as she began to cry again.

_Stop crying! _She ordered herself but it was useless, she knew her end was drawing near.

With a snap of the boy's fingers the monsters had a hold of her again but only one managed to give her good kick in the ribs whilst the other punched her square in the jaw. They continued to assault her and as much as she wanted to defend herself she couldn't... and that was what broke her. There she sobbed harder than before. Kenji snapped his fingers again and beating stopped and she was thrown onto the table and restrained to it in a much swifter motion than before.

"Joey, no need to get so flustered," he chuckled darkly tracing his index finger down the side of her bruised face and down to her chest where he lingered for a moment.

His once amused face was now frowning resting his hand over her heart, "I hate to see you in this state, I thought you to be stronger than this... but no matter, this has to be done."

"Kenji... what do you want from me?" she whispered meekly.

He leaned into her face to where their lips were only inches apart his sweet breath tickling her nose.

"I knew before we even met I had to do this eventually... but... who knew in the few days we knew each other I would find myself falling for you..."

"What?" she gasped.

"You see, I can only imagine what your thinking right now, wondering what I may do to you but I promise you it won't be anything like that... it'll be much more painful, but your fate has been sealed by the King, he wants it this way even if I wanted to stop it... even if I wanted to save you..." a pained expression crossed his face as he pulled away.

"Stop your blabbering fool, its time for me to do my work!" a new voice intruded.

She tore her gaze away from Kenji to see another monster approaching wearing a long lab coat and a needle in one hand gloved hand the other holding a paint brush and a little container.

"Please... please... Kenji..." she whispered.

"I'm sorry..." he stepped back only for the monster that resembled Einstein to take his place.

He ripped off her blouse's sleeve and placed the needle down on the ground. Dipping the paint brush into the container it came out black and he began to trace a strange design on her shoulder. Joey screamed, the ink burning her skin.

The creature chuckled, "The pain has only begun my dear, this is only a simple spell to ensure your blood will mix properly, something we had missed with the other two."

She winced but managed to ask, "Other two?"

He grinned, "Yes, the other two girls before you, of course none of them held Kenji's attention like you do but they didn't mix well with the demon blood and died."

"Will I die?" she cried.

"I can't say yes and I can't say no, your blood is perfectly matched just like the others were, but demon blood can be very powerful..."

With these words Kenji's face showed signs of fear... he didn't want her to die.

_DEMON BLOOD?_

"If successful you'll be a full fledged demon just like Kenji and myself..."

"Kenji..." she whispered.

"Yes, he may be pretty but some are, and others like me and our two friend's watching now, we are but lower class demons so you can imagine why we don't look as pretty."

The demon had stopped painting and picked up the needle letting a little bit of the strange red liquid squirt out before injecting it into her arm. She cried out but the doctor seemed to enjoy the sound of her screaming. Kenji raced over pushing the demon out of the way and the needle fell to the ground as he comforted the frantic girl.

"I'm so sorry... I promise the pain will end," he whispered, "and we can be together."

She only cried and writhed in pain, she could feel the cold liquid starting at her arm and traveling around her body, consuming her.

"You idiot!" the demon cried, "it wasn't done being injected!"

_Shuichi... Hiei... Yusuke... Kuwabara... anyone... please help me..._

"HELP ME!" she screamed squirming trying to free herself from the table.

All she heard was a loud bang and watched as the two Hench-men were sliced in half before she blacked out...

Hiei glared at Kenji who stood over Joey's frail body. The fire demon's red eyes then landed on the lab coated monster who crawled against the wall pleading for his life. Slowly he walked forward and held the tip of his blade to the creatures throat.

"What have you done to her?"

He gulped sweat running down the side of his face, "I-I-I w-w-was just doing what was commanded of me..."

"I said what have you done?" he yelled, "I don't care why!"

"Please... p-p-please spare my life..."

Hiei sniffed the air and growled, "No need to, I can smell the blood..."

In one swift motion the demon's head was no longer attached to his body and rolled across the room. He turned to look at the door upon which he entered. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama ran in and stared in shock at Joey's tiny unconscious body being protected by Kenji.

Kenji locked eyes with the furious red head who stood in fighting stance ready to attack.

"She's mine Kurama," he bared his fangs, "I won't hesitate to mark her now!"

"What do you want with her anyways?" Hiei huffed sheathing his sword, "why is she so important?"

"I saved her, she's mine," he repeated.

Yusuke grew furious, "SAVED HER FROM WHAT?"

"Becoming a demon!"

Kurama's breath caught in his throat and Kuwabara gasped.

Hiei glowered at the handsome demon, "Hn, obviously you failed... she will still be half... can't you smell it? Her human blood being mixed with demon still?"

"At least I saved some of her humanity!" the boy who none really knew had tears in eyes as he spoke, "I was just fallowing orders... I didn't want to hurt her, I didn't want this to happen to her... I was just doing what was asked, what was ordered..."

"By who?"

"What?" he whispered looking up at the greasy haired boy who questioned him.

"I said who! Who ordered you to do this to her?" Yusuke clenched his fists

"It was-" before another word could spout from his mouth a figure ran by and slit his throat.

The shadow danced away into the night and Hiei immediately fallowed in hot pursuit.

"A-A-Joey," he coughed, "I'm s-s-sorry..." and Kenji's body slumped back landing in his own blood and quivered while he slowly died.

Hiei returned only seconds later, "Hn, it got away."

"I guess we won't really know who wanted this to happen to her or why..." Kuwabara stated rubbing his chin curiously.

Kurama was already at her side tearing away at her restraints, Yusuke fallowed to help as well whilst Hiei glared at the beaten girl.

"Hn... baka..."

"Your still going to be mean even in the state she's in?" Kuwabara shot a dirty look at the short fire demon.

"She didn't even try to fight back, that's what makes her baka."

"How was she supposed to know! In the end he wasn't a terrible guy after all, I mean not entirely..."

"Hn... it was only because of her aura he saved her life. No one could possibly fall in love with a human like her in over a week."

"YOU'RE REALLY STARTING TO TICK ME OFF YOU LITTLE-"

"Save it Kuwabara! We have to get Joey out of here and to Koenma, you guys can continue this later," Yusuke grunted grabbing his orange haired friend by the shirt collar and pulling him away.

Kurama carried Joey in his arms with a pained expression on his face. How could he let this happen? He was so concerned with the other issues at hand he neglected to keep an eye on her. He should have been more worried about being at home with her, Yusuke and Kuwabara handled their mission fine. Hiei sent him a side ways glance.

"You know I can carry her if its to much for you..."

Kurama sent his friend a smile, "I think I can handle it."

With his usual "hn" he fallowed the fox demon out into the darkness of the night and away from the ware house.

* * *

"OW!" Joey awoke with a stabbing pain in her side only to find the familiar blue haired girl changing her bandages.

"Botan!" she squealed sitting up to hug her but recoiled in pain.

Botan giggled, "Calm yourself Joey-chan, you have quite a few injuries."

"Oh yeah... that's right..."

She thought back to her kidnapper and sitting in the dark cold cellar of the abandoned ware house. Then slowly more of the memory came back to her. The strange monsters, Kenji, and her being strapped to that table, yes, it was all coming back. She wondered what happened to Kenji after he attempted to rescue her... even though it was him who put her in the situation to begin with. Her eyes wondered around the white room.

"Botan... am I in a hospital?"

She chuckled, "No, you're in spirit world."

"The detective agency?" Joey raised a brow.

Botan blinked, "Oh goodness me, you think this is a detective agency?"

"Well... I... that's just what I overheard..." she muttered staring down at her hands.

She giggled, "Things will be explained in due time, but in the mean time you should probably put this on; it won't be long before Kurama comes to check on you."

Botan handed Joey a white gown and her eyes wondered down to her almost naked chest, covered with bandages. She blushed as she carefully pulled the gown over her head trying to manage the pain, her friend helped her pull it on the rest of the way.

"Your injuries were severe but thanks to Kurama and I your almost fully recovered and-"

"Who's Kurama?" Joey asked puzzled.

The blue haired girl was taken a back for a moment but then laughed, "Oh! I'm sorry, I mean Shuichi!"

"Is Kurama a nick name?"

"Not exactly... I'm sure he'll explain but I think Shuichi is more of a "nick name" in a way..."

"I think I'll take it from here Botan," the majestic voice from across the room announced.

Both of the girls eyes floated toward the door way where the red head stood, a hand stuffed in one pocket of his white pants and his free hand holding a steaming cup. Botan gave Joey a light hug and danced out of the room leaving the two alone together. He stared at the bandaged blonde sitting up in her hospital bed and frowned. He stalked forward and held out the mug to her which she gladly accepted and took a long drink as he took a seat on the chair next to the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Well..." she sighed inhaling the steam from her cup, "a little sore but this cup of tea really hit the spot."

He half smiled, "Well good, I'm glad."

She stared a the handsome boy and wondered what to say, I mean how could she explain what happened without looking like a lunatic. A thousand scenarios ran through her head at once but she still had no idea on how to bring up what happened to her.

"So um... how long have I been out?" she wondered.

"About three days now..." he tore away his gaze from her and looked down at his lap, "I'm so sorry Joey... I should have kept an eye on you... this is all my fault."

She raised a brow, "What are you talking about?"

Without warning he moved to sit on the side of her bed and brought her into a gentle, warm, endearing hug. She blushed and almost wanted to push him away but his warm body was so welcoming.

"I promise to always to protect you from now on, no matter what... this will never happen again," he whispered in her ear sending shivers down her spine, "you can rest easy now."

His voice always did that to her but never like it did just then...

He pulled away and smiled at her, "Now enjoy your tea, I'll be right back."

Soon as he left the room he closed the door quietly and turned to find Hiei leaning on the wall next to the doorway.

"I knew I had someone listening in on us."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Kurama, that would be incredibly unwise especially when she's so gullible and would end up depending on you whenever there's trouble," Hiei scoffed glaring at the red head.

"Wouldn't you make the same promise as well? I know you're becoming attracted to her aura, even more so now that she's a half demon, I can sense your desire."

"Hn, don't be ridiculous, I for one never make promises I don't intend to keep and her aura has never had an affect on me like it does on you," he spat defensively.

With that he walked away swiftly his boots clicking as he made his way down the dark hall, his tiny body being engulfed into the darkness.

"So then... she's starting to grow on you?"

"Well saving someones life tends to make you like them a little bit more I think," Koenma stated coming up from behind with Koenma, Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"How is she?" Yusuke questioned the red head giving him a quizzical look.

"Fine, her wounds are healing nicely and she's awake now."

"That's good," Koenma's brows furrowed, "it's time we have our little chat with her now."

"What about?"

"Her fate."


	7. Chapter 8: What Are You Joannah Wheems?

Reflecting back on her recent adventure a lot of Joey's memories came up rather hazy. In her mind she still pictured Kenji hovering above her staring down at her worriedly, before she passed out. Her gaze fell onto her left shoulder that was bandaged and appeared to have black ink seeping through. Curious, was it all a dream? She began to unwrap the wrappings hastily, her eyes widened at the sight of the strange symbol tattooed into her skin. As morbid as the event was she thought of her mother and how horrified she would be to find her fifth teen-year-old daughter had been stained before she was even legal to do so! Without adult supervision! She chuckled at the thought of her mother over dramatically crying and cradling her arm.

Then as if the happy daydream was taken away from her a new picture entered her mind. A fuzzy image of the supposed demon doctor began to form. The creature stabbed the needle of blood belonging to his species into the middle of the tattoo without remorse or hesitation. Seeing his deranged smile made her skin crawl.

"Glad to see your awake, hope we're not intruding," a small intellectual voice echoed through out the white room.

On a chair by the end of her bed stood, a toddler? His attire was quite unusual from the blue robes to the giant hat upon his head he wore like a crown. As he spoke the binky in his mouth bobbed up and down.

"Rest is important Joannah but so is truth, for within truth we find out who our allies are," the baby lectured.

She hadn't even seen him come in nor the cluster of her friends that were scattered about the room listening to the child as well. A talking child his age seemed so bizarre but at this point who was Joey to judge what was bizarre? She was just kidnapped by a bunch of monsters whose intent still remained a mystery to her.

She blinked registering his words slowly, "I'm sorry, I'm just a little confused."

"My name is Koenma," the toddler began speaking again, "I am the son of King Yama who is ruler of Spirit World which is where you are conveniently located for the time being."

"Oh?" All of this information wasn't too hard to grasp, she read enough manga to understand that this Spirit World had to be some kind of after life and although the reality of the situation for most people would have been hard to grasp Joey welcomed the idea of her life being turned into a fantasy. It was every nerd girls dream.

"Joey, you were brought here by the student adoption program created by Botan and myself to protect you from the very demons that kidnapped you," he glared at the boys behind him, "that some people failed to do."

Yusuke glared at the child ruler, "You had us chasing some other gambling psychopaths! We can't be at two places at once!"

Koenma shook his head, "Cool your jets Yusuke," he turned back to Joey, "that symbol on your arm was used as a spell to bind your human blood with demon blood, its common for humans to try to attempt in order to gain power but most fail and die trying to transform themselves because they don't have the right blood and spiritual aura to do complete the change."

This raised a red flag for Joey. _Am I going to become a demon?_ Anxiety began to take her insides on a rollercoaster ride.

"What's going to happen to me?" she wondered aloud staring at her pale bandaged hands.

He sighed, "Well, you see, this aura you possess that was able to assist you in this transformation is an aura that a lot of demons find alluring so lucky for you, "Kenji" your classmate," he made quotations in the air with his fingers, "was so attracted to you he felt the need to save your life. Of course he was too late and you were still injected but you are merely a half demon, this form is usually referred to as a Hanyou."

Try as she may Joey was struggling with the idea of being only half human? She wondered how this would affect her life style and what would happen when she tried returning home? Wait, was she allowed to go home ever?

Tears began to form in her pale blue eyes, "So I have to remain here or go live with my kind? I can't ever see my parents again?"

Kurama this time took a step forward and sat beside her on the bed, taking her hand in his.

"Don't worry Joey," he smiled, "its nothing like that, we think if we can discover your inner demon and train you could easily blend in with humans, I manage to do so just fine."

_Shuichi? You're a demon? _She stared at the handsome red head in amazement her eyes growing to the size of saucer plates.

"Shuichi's true name is Kurama, his inner demon is a legendary fox thief who took convent within the womb of human woman to live a easy life without being sought after by his enemies," Koenma stated, "Kurama easily blends in with his human family as you have witnessed and we're confident that you can do the same."

"There are some stipulations of course!" Botan leaped forward sticking her index finger in the air. "In order for us to keep a close eye on you, you will be joining Yusuke in being a Spirit Detective!"

Joey began to tug at her lip nervously with her free hand, "What entails with being a Spirit Detective?"

Botan giggled excitedly, "I hoped you would ask, you see Joey there are some odd cases that come about where you may have to track down some bad guys or spiritual artifacts, something to that nature and it will be not only be Yusuke but also you helping in the aid of Spirit World to solve these cases!"

"With a little help from me also!" the goofy orange haired Kuwabara spoke up pounding his chest proudly with his fist.

Kurama gave another warm reassuring smile, "As well as myself and Hiei from time to time."

Joey sighed, "All of this is so over-whelming," she admitted.

Koenma gave a firm nod, "No doubt! But no worries, I am sure in spite of recent events everything will work out for the best." He hopped off the chair, "It was a pleasure meeting you Joannah, and we shall be meeting again when your injuries are less severe! Your training will start then!"

The toddler left the room leaving Joey to take in all of the information that was provided. Her friends didn't leave but sat around and made her feel comfortable with the idea of being a Spirit Detective talking about adventures and cases they had ventured thus far. _I'm a half-demon… a hanyou? And in addition to that I have to help Yusuke fight evil villains? If this isn't crazy I don't what is! _Kurama could tell she was having a hard time taking in all the news; it had to be pretty startling to a girl who was used to living such an average life.

Yusuke ruffled her hair, "You'll be okay kid! Big brother Yusuke will protect you!" he grinned.

"I'm not a kid," she began to whine but then smiled at the green jumpsuit punk, "but thank you Yusuke."

Her gaze wondered to her hand being held by the supposed fox demon. She blushed a bright pink and quickly pulled it out of his grasp, his cheeks also took on a shade of pink as she did this. Neither really noticed this even occurred, as if it were natural for the two hands to be caught in embrace. _What will tomorrow bring? _She wondered letting out a heavy sigh and falling back in her bed. "Ouch," she muttered, the others chuckling at the silly action.

* * *

Joey was now able to walk around and move without crying out in pain, it only took her another day to heal. Koenma thought this may have been because of the demon side of her may be a quick healer. Today would mark the first day of her training. Just yesterday she was lying in bed worrying over this new side to her but now she bounced about in anticipation. _Am I fox demon like Shuichi… er Kurama? Or a fire demon like Hiei? _It still felt strange to call Shuichi, Kurama that he preferred when not in a human setting, it was something she would have to force herself to do to better their friendship.

She wondered down the large cavernous hall, the stained glass and high ceilings reminded her of a catholic church. Nearing the end of the hall was a tall door and outside stood… Kuwabara? The orange haired teen was dressed in his uniform attire except instead; the top of his uniform was replaced with a white sleeveless shirt. He had his usual goofy grin and began to chuckle as Joey neared.

"I will be your first opponent!" he stated proudly.

She raised a brow, "Opponent?"

He pounded his fist into his palm, "The best way to discover your fighting technique is to well," he laughed, "fight! No worries though, I'll take it easy on you!"

"B-b-but," she gaped at him, "I don't want to fight!"

The double doors opened to reveal Koenma, Kurama, Yusuke, and surprisingly enough, Hiei as well. Koenma stepped out in front of the group of misfits and grinned excitedly.

"This is the first step to find out what your inner demon is Joannah! It's proven when in a life threatening situation or in a pinch when you need to defend yourself an adrenaline rush may push forth that unknown power," the toddler explained pointing to the dark room behind them. "Inside you shall train with the people before you so we can discover this power. It is also very important to know your strength and limitations seeing how you're a spirit detective now."

Even if this were true Joey didn't like the idea of fighting her friends, especially friends who she now knew already had powers or were demons. She felt as if this put her in an unfair disadvantage. _Whatever it takes I guess, _she sighed following the boys into the room. At first it was so dark she couldn't see anything, not even her own hands that blindly stretched out to ensure she didn't run into anything. A hand felt for hers but this hand felt different than the warm Kurama's she was used to, beggars couldn't be choosers at the time. She clutched onto the hand for dear life, the owner's hold was stiff and rigid, and again, something she was not used to.

The lights came on and the second they did she didn't have time to see whose hand she had been holding for whoever it was had let go. In front of her stood a Kuwabara and Hiei. _It had to been Kuwabara, _she confirmed, _no way would Hiei ever attempt to even help me._ A soft "hn" came from the short fire demon. That's when Joey's gaze moved past the pack of fighters to a concrete arena in the middle of the barren room.

"Let's get started!" Yusuke cheered excitedly pumping his fist in the air.

Kuwabara took his place in the center of the stage waving Joey over.

"Come on let's do it!"

She looked to Kurama who smiled at her encouragingly.

_You can do this Joey! You're the man! _She chuckled at her self-motivation and too climbed the stage facing her friend.

"Now, we designed this room to take on different settings," Koenma pulled out a remote from inside his robes, "with the push of the buttons I can make this room into whatever atmosphere we may need to suit your powers as you adapt."

She tapped her index finger on her chin in wonderment, "So, if I turn out to be like Hiei, a fire demon, this room will adapt to that element?"

Koenma smiled, "Precisely, for now though we'll stick with this setting just to get a feel for your style today."

Joey gulped loudly, "So uh," she nervously glanced to the toddler as she stood awkwardly before her opponent, "what do I do now?"

"Fight Baka," Hiei grunted.

She laughed nervously, "Oh right."

Taking a fighting stance she held up her fists putting her right leg behind her. Kuwabara yelled loudly as he came at her. She quickly dodged him, a lot faster than she thought she had ever been before. The audience in the room noticed this almost immediately as well.

"Most demons, a very fast moving," Koenma noted aloud to himself.

The loud teen came at her once more with is fists flying that she dodged once more.

"Here goes nothing!" she shouted as her fist collided with his stomach knocking the wind out of him.

Kuwabara fell back, his eyes bulging out of his head like a surprised owl.

"Don't stop there Joey! Give him another!" Yusuke grinned at the sight of Kuwabara being beat up by a girl much smaller than him.

Taking his words of advice Joey launched forward once more her fist colliding with Kuwabara's chest, still shocked by how fast her limbs had been moving while she did this. The boy fell back landing on the ground with a thud. She held up her fists and stared in wonder. _I'm so strong and so fast! _She grinned.

"That's all we needed for today Joannah, even though you're moving about fine doesn't mean you're fully recovered. We will continue tomorrow," Koenma declared tucking the remote away inside his robes where they were before.

"What have we learn today?" she asked. She didn't quite understand the new burst of energy.

The prince cleared his throat, "Well right now, your speed and dexterity is at a fairly high level for a hanyou so it may be possible that your equipped with maybe an animal or potentially an element such as fire or air but its really too early to say."

"Hmmm," she pondered this but as she thought she glanced to a kneeled over Kuwabara, "Oh Kuwabara! I'm sorry!"

She rushed over to help him up who shooed her away.

He laughed and in doing so let out a wheeze, "No worries Joey! I'm doing just fine! Just need to catch my breath!"

She bit her lip in response, "If you're sure."

Kurama gazed up at her proudly while Yusuke began making fun of Kuwabara.

* * *

As light hearted as her friends made the situation to be a dark road still lies ahead for Joannah Wheems. The training will be tough and the inner demon may not at all be what they were expecting. Find out next time on Yu Yu Hakusho!


End file.
